Michelle works pretty damn hard... (although as Kevin may tell you everyone works harder than me...)
But one nice perk of all that hard work is US Airways treats her pretty good. So it was the Envoy lounge at Philadelphia International for us again this year.

I think the girl is pretty excited for a holiday (please see previous reference to hard work!)

Swiss Rail to Aarau, not too bad for a night in coach

safe arrival at Moto Mader. Tommy grabbed us from the train & had the bikes all ready to go. F 800 R for Michelle in "arrest me" red, and an all black F 800 GS for me.

With a bit of jet lag to deal with, the plan was to take it easy and head south-west towards France. We opted to stay off the autobahn and banged along down the secondary highway.

A stop for a bit of lunch including frites and mayo (I'm actually getting a taste for it..) and a check of the map.

and then off into the mountains

cool waterfalls.... we'd see more too!

camera girl on the fly

first pass: Forclaz

looks like buddy laid a trail of diesel to catch out unwary motorcyclists.... :huh

Michelle spies a Multistrada

bienvenue France!

on towards Chamonix.. getting a bit grey

afterfinding a lovely little hotel: Hotel du Clocher, and getting cleaned up, we go for a walk around the downtown. Lovely little village! Must be a mad house during ski season.....

time for a spot of dinner... it's starting to rain pretty hard now, so sitting and eating seems a very good thing to do:

soup course: lovely!

salad with cheese & egg! I am going to really like France!

main course

absolutely stuffed we make our way back to the hotel.. the rain has stopped, but tomorrow's forecast isn't looking great, Oh well, we're on holiday!

So when we got up in the morning & looked outside, we figured it was time for a modification. You have to understand that even though Michelle & I have a "plan", it isn't written in stone. We have places we think we'd like to ride, and a rough route, but no where we have to be, and no schedule to keep. Freestyle.

We set of in a cold drizzle, and I apologize in advance for the lack of pics from day 02. It was just so crappy and cold that we just wanted to make some tracks south. We opted for a route more along the valley out of Chamonix towards Albertville, avoiding a couple of the climbs early. Our hope was the weather would improve. We stopped in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne for lunch & warmed up a bit. The waitress asked which way we were headed, and when we told her, she said the Col du Gabilier was ferme. Bummer..... after lunch we decided to have a look up that road, and the sign told us OPEN! Cool! So up over Col du Telegraphe we went. yes, it was chilly, but not bad. Bit of drizzle... but we're troopers

Onwards & upwards to Col du Gabilier. We saw signs urging "Thomas" onwards (we guessed Tommy Volker, French cyclist & extraordinary climber), and we pressed on too. It was getting quite cold now. BMW thoughtfully intergrates a temperature gauge on the display.. that flashes when the temp gets down around 3° C. Our displays had been flashing a long time, and were showing about -0.5° C or so with the drizzle turning to slight ice pellets. Onwards & upwards...

At the top of the Col there's a tunnel through to the other side. We went through with frozen fingers crossed and were greeted by..... snow. :eek1 Quite a lot of it in fact. We stopped, Michelle popped in some chemical hand warmers so she could feel her fingers, and decided the Col had won this time.
We headed back down, and based on altitude & weather reports, decided to head more for Turin in Italy. I managed to find a tunnel that would take us through the mountain.. but they wanted something like 28 each in toll ONE WAY!

non, merci..... :fyyff

We turned around and got back on the valley road. We rode for a while & decided that since tomorrow was supposed to be a nicer day anyway, we may as well stop for the night. We spotted a sign off the D 1006 into Bramans saying there was a hotel, so into town we went. We found the very charming Hotel les Glaciers in the center of town. They had rooms, and they would be serving dinner.... SWEET!

The view from our terrace:

already brightening

A couple from Germany showed up shortly after us... also looking a bit road weary

I didn't understand the conversation they had, but basically it went like:
him "I'll go see if they have a room"
her: "sound of teeth chattering"
him: "seems a bit expensive"
her: "we'll take it"

When we got our stuff up to the room, they even had the heat on! Double bonus.

Gear was dry by the A.M.

more route re-planning:

Yes Kevin.. I use paper maps to supplement the GPS

And supplies....

They had a fixed menu dinner on offer that night.
Quiche & salad to start

A home made sausage & potato dish for the main, and a choice of dolce to finish.

All accompanied by an excellent French red.

After a dinner like that, and a good night's sleep, day 03 could be nothing but fantastic right?

So in the end, instead of 316 km of mountain climbing, we did about 230 km of valleys (but we did do half the Col du Gabilier, so that should count for something).

The day dawns dry, if not exactly warm.... we have a lovely French breakfast that consists mainly of croissants & bread, with very strong coffee & steamed milk.

getting the bikes out of the hotel garage and packed up

au revoir les Glaciers, you were a nice warm port in our storm

We head for the Col du Mont Cenis to get into Italy. According to wikipedia we are not the first to come up with this idea:

Being a pass in the Alps, the Mont Cenis was used in several notable incidents in history. One example is the descent of Constantine I to Italy, to fight against Maxentius. It was the principal route for crossing the Alps between France and Italy until the 19th century. It was also used as the main passage by which Charlemagne crossed with his army to invade Lombardy in 773.

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Well that's OK, we figure it's a good idea anyway. Invasion of Italy underway!

At the top it is a bit foggy, and still chilly

but we are in high spirits when we see the sun shining brightly in Italy

Remember the handy thermometer I mentioned? What will those crafty Germans think of next?

After a good stretch of the legs we strike out for Italy. The water in the reservoir looks very cold!

Quite a dam!

Ever downwards off the mountains into Italy

This girl on a red BMW was always in my mirrors...

As we headed south in the lovely sunshine, we had the mountains on our right to keep us company

As we go further south towards Cuneo, we decided to see if Monte Carlo was within range for the day. It was somewhere we both wanted to see, from an F-1 point of view, if for no other reason... The GPS said it was easily doable, so we angled south-west into the hills around Parc National de Mercantour

Roads cut through steep gashes in the rock

We reached the top of the Col de Brouis in pretty short order. Lovely road with nice sweeping bends. did I mention no snow plus a large helping of sunshine?

Looking over the other side it seems like more of the same good stuff

We reach the Cote d'Azur in no time at all

We rode along the top of the cliff over Monaco and then looped down into the city. I have a video, but in essence it is pretty crowded & pretty slow moving traffic... It was also getting just a tad warm in riding gear.

GoPro

Into the tunnel (from F1 fame) the wrong way though.

Out the other side trying to figure how to get out of town

The water really is that color....

So, after being stuck in the stop & go along the shore we bail out and head north away from the sea. We manage to go back over the Col de brouis (not a bad thing as it was a nice ride), and find our way into the town of Sospel. We grab a hotel get cleaned up, and set off in search of food.

Much of the suggestion for roads and routes for day 04 comes from inmate Tagesk.

As I mentioned earlier his "riding in Tuscany" thread here on ADV is to Italy as john Hermann's book is to the Alps. A first rate source of information

Morning in Sospel. Bikes out of the garage & packed up.

We had checked the map the night before & compared it to where we thought we might be, and where we wanted to be... We aimed for the town (city?) of Alba. That way we would intersect the route Tagesk had suggested.

Sun's up and we're rollin'

European mountain towns are always lovely (my opinion)

The original guard rail? Tree lined streets.

The girl is on fire this morning.. leading the charge.

Leaving the flat lands the country gets a bit more rolling. We can see mountains in the distance, and that makes us smile. This is wine country (well the whole country seems to be wine country).

Michelle realizes that we are going to pass near to the town of Barolo. This seems to make her very happy.. I can hear it in her voice through the com set. Now... I like a nice glass of wine as much as the next person, but Michelle knows her wine! So she gave me the run-down on the wines etc as we got closer to the town.

wiki says:

Barolo is a red Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the Nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines. The zone of production extends into the communes of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba and parts of the communes of Cherasco, Diano d'Alba, Grinzane Cavour, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Roddi, Verduno, all in the province of Cuneo, south-west of Alba. Only vineyards planted in primarily calcareous-clay soils in the hills with suitable slopes and orientations are considered suitable for Barolo production. Barolo is often described as having the aromas of tar and roses, and the wines are noted for their ability to age and usually take on a rust red tinge as they mature. When subjected to aging of at least five years before release, the wine can be labeled a Riserva..

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hmm... sounds good to me
Funny enough it was right on our route! Perfect. Tage was reading my mind? hmmm

I'm happy to stop & have a look around...

Michelle determining how many bottle my BMW topcase will hold....

One of the tasting houses

So many choices.... so little room

We decided on a couple of bottle (for medicinal purposes) and tossed them in the top box as we went for a wander around town.

I should have brought a bottle of this back for Kevin.... no not Che Guevara

Narrow streets

The corkscrew museum! who knew?

headed out of town again on the road to Alba

Now alba seemed a bit busy.. a lot of hustle & bustle, and while I am sure we could have found a good restaurant & had a lovely lunch, we decided to press on a bit. Instead we stopped in Spigno Monferrato.

We found a small place where the waiter read us what they had for primo, etc and we ordered up. Fantastic beef carpaccio to start followed by gnochi, and then dolche with cappuccino and truffles.
I probably should have combed my hair when I took my helmet off.... and shaved... oh well. Holiday.

well fed and ready to ... nap

The next little bit is just still pictures courtesy of the GoPro set to capture every 60 seconds. So 2 minutes equals a trip into and through the Parco Nat. Capanne Di Marcarolo. Fantastic roads!

So after a nice breakfast at the hotel in Ovada we hit the road basically retracing our steps in to town with a slight detour to avoid the SP 166 that was closed due to bridge work, and still make it through Voltaggio. Garmin says "no worries" and off we go. Everything is ticking along fine and the roads are SWEET! (thanks Tage) until we get to Crocefieschi.

The GPS says "turn left"....

hmm OK (realize that there are plenty of pedestrians when we do), and with Michelle slightly in the lead I say "wait a while".. not sure this is right... (Kevin has been there plenty of times...)

Of course Michelle is already committed, a car is coming, there's no room, so I tell her, "well go down & turn around & come back". She disappears for a long time, she's out of range of the comm set, and after a while my phone rings... it's Michelle, at a dead end. So I look at the map & figure well maybe the road comes out the other side... so she gives that a try and climbs to the top of the hill on a goat path overlooking town. maybe she was on the via alla rocca?

above is the route the GPS figured we should go. Obviously we just needed to stick to the via Roma and it worked out fine.. live & learn

that's no good... eventually she gets back to the road she went down & comes back up.. none the worse for wear. My girl is a trooper!

Eventually the miles lead to hunger. Since we never want to miss our food window, we decide to pop into the next town. We find Trattoria Del Ripa in Fontaigorda is open. Perfecto!

No melon, but they do have pineapple....lovely
I think I need to start keeping my hat on.. I look like an escaped mental patient in the lunch shots

and guess what? motoGP qualifying is on the big screen!

the race is in Misano and the announcers are going mad describing the action.. brilliant.

but it's time to get back on the road... stuffed full (as is usual after an Italian lunch) we saddle back up & head out.

The SP 17, the SP 586, take us towards Borgonovo Ligure where we find the SP 49. the roads have been narrow, and twisting, the lunch was large, the day has been long.... so when we roll down into Varese Ligure I ping Michelle to see how she's feeling. Time to stop (and I am very happy to agree!). I spot the albergo della posta across the square and walk over to see what the room situation is. Room available

While Michelle showers up I decide to chill in the street side bar.

all showered & good to go (not me tho... one more day til I shave)

just one more beer & we'll go explore the town...

typical Italian town, narrow streets, neat shops. lovely

While I was sitting having a beer the local Benz convertible club rolled through. While we went for a walk we saw them all garaged up at a hotel around the corner.

Coke machine? nope..... MILK machine!

Church

almost time to eat

The town cenotaph. it is always sad to see how many names are from the same family. Fathers, sons, all gone now.

We decide just a pizza tonight. So around the corner we find the perfect place.

A pie each, some wine & some water frizannte

dolce?

better not....

The day in maps....

We have only done about 200 km on the day, but it feels further. the roads were fantastic, seemed very technical, and not all that fast. A great day of riding!

I think I read in the first post or so that maby you where going to Ducati factory, if you want to the museum you got to book the museum in advance, at least thats was the deal last year.

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well that is good to know!
as it happens, we didn't end up going to the museum this year (it'll be there next year I'm sure, and now I know to book in advance )

so, on to Day 06

it's Sunday.. it's my birthday.. and I am in Italy with my girl on motorbikes.. what could be better?

the castle in the middle of town looks pretty impressive in the morning sun

quite old by New World standards too

The Castle of the Fieschi to the north of the oldest part of the historic center of Varese Ligure, in the past was part of a unique defensive system along with the fortress houses of the village round. The monument stands today consists of two staggered towers, joined by a massive buttress on which stands the highest. The latter is known as the Tower of Piccinino, the name of the captain who in 1435 took possession of Italy on behalf of the Duke of Milan.
In the seventeenth century the building gave signs of failure and to prevent its collapse, its base was built so it was a huge spur to connect with the second tower, called the Tower Landi. Manfredo Landi, having married Antonia Maria Fieschi, feudatory of Italy, he settled in the village and between 1472 and 1478 built the tower to expand the living area of &#8203;&#8203;the building. The tower cylindrical section and based on slope, recorded in 1541, the collapse of the roof which was later replaced with a pavilion roof.
From 1547, the year of commencement of the Genoese dominion, until the end of the eighteenth century, the castle was the residence of the Podestà. It was later used as a private residence until the restoration of 1964 that gave us the monument in its present form. You can visit the reception hall and the underlying prisons, as well as the walkways of the buttress.

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Ready to rock the little GS!

beautiful, cloudless day. Not too hot, not too cold... just right

out into the countryside

Michelle & Greg.. house hunting (within our budget?)

the view speaks for itself

Time to stop for a cappuccino

which way? we have decided that it is maybe time to head north, rather than further into Tuscany. So we set our navigation to Torbole on Lake Garda.

happy? yup

you? yup!

and some freeky fries! (i'll admit they were pretty good, but not as freeky as advertised)

SS 62... in a word BRILLIANT!

level crossing time

Seems they have been quarrying that hill for quite some time!

Heading north-east

Western shores of Lake Garda

Have I mentioned the seat on the GS is a bit of a plank? Leg stretching time....

We decide to try Hotel Santoni (we stayed there last year, and they have fantastic breakfasts!

sadly... no room at the inn but they call a couple of places & hook us up at Hotel Piccolo Mondo. Four **** wow... lux. We pull in & they are expecting us as the Santoni staff has already called.

We have a room w/ a terrace, and since it is my birthday, then a bottle of the excellent Barolo I have been toting seems to be in order!

Later we walk down to the lake for dinner.

More wine, Amarone of course since we are so close to the region (and Michelle & I love Amarone)

A gelato on the walk back to the hotel seals the day perfectly.

The day in maps:

About 300 km on the day. A perfect day weather-wise, every sort of road, and fantastic vistas. Topped by a great dinner on the side of the lake. A very memorable birthday for sure!

yeah yeah..... this coming from the guy who went to the Isle of Man (no ride report or pics I see..... )

onwards & upwards
day 07.... a bit dusty (couldn't be all that wine the night before?)

Michelle snapped this pic in the lobby of our hotel. Her dad loves to collect elephants.. i think he would be very pleased to add a few of these to his collection

good breakfast in us helped a lot, so all packed & ready to rock

After getting gas in Riva we set our sights on Passo Durone, just to the north. Nice sweeping turns & a smooth road. A great wake-up call in the morning! Initially we had a two possibility plan.

Plan A: was to just hit the valley roads north after Durone & head in to Schilpario from the south. A round-about route, but it isn't that far, it avoids the narrow mountains roads we went over in the rain last year, and we have all day.

Plan B: takes the high roads west. This means crossing Croce Domini and then Passo del Vivione (both of which we crossed in a downpour last year)

The Croce Domini Pass (Italian: Passo di Crocedomini) (el. 1892 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the region of Lombardy in Italy.

It connects the Lago d'Idro in the southeast and the Lago d'Iseo in the southwest.

The pass road has a maximum grade of 12 percent and is paved from Breno to Bagolino. The pass is closed from November to May.

We head north towards Forno Allione and the bottom of Passo del Vivione. I have a video of the climb of Vivione, but it isn't processed yet. To me it is cool to watch... to you? probably like watching someone else's home movies <edit> {edit} here's the climb, compressed to a tolerable 11 minutes

I once learned that Amarone is simply too much. It is so powerful, in all dimensions, that there is only one situation where it can be enjoyed to it's full potential.

Assume that you arrange lunch on the terrace for your extended family; parents, a couple of aunts and uncles, children, grandchildren, some neighbors and a few good old friends. You sit under the pergola and have antipasti, primi, secondo and dolce. Noise, laughter, children blooming from being at ease with adults, good wines and too much food and 30 C in the shadow. You know, that dense and calming heat, full of Tuscan scents.

As things calm down, the elders move inside to take a nap, the children run down the streets to play with friends, then you sit down in the shade under a tree in the garden with a good friend. In a good chairs. You know, the hour which starts with OK, how are things really going?. That moment, which in Italian is called Il conversazione dopo pranzo is the only time where an Amarone really get to show what it can do.